‘Picked Off Like a Single Quail’

Unless rural people get organized to stand up to corporate power, the future of rural America will be grim, says veteran Nebraska agriculture attorney David Domina. If you care about rural communities, watch this speech -- even if it means skipping a few cat videos.

Share This:

If farmers don’t get organized and work together, they stand about as much chance of surviving as a lone bird flying into a hail of shotgun pellets, an attorney told the Nebraska Farmers Union convention earlier this month.

“You will be picked off like quail coming up as a single with 10 good shot-gunners nearby,” said David Domina, who practices agricultural law in Nebraska.

No individual farmer has enough leverage to bargain fairly with the multinational corporations that control agricultural markets, he said.

“You have a common interest because you have a common foe,” he said. “You need a common cause.”

If you care about rural issues, make a few minutes to watch the speech in its entirety.

By Internet standards, it’s long – 36 minutes. You may have to forego watching a few cat videos to make time for it. That’s how good it is.